Why Fans are Worried about Sakurai's New Kirby Game

I have some of the same worries showed in this video, like representation of modern games, but honestly, thats not even too big of a concern compare to the fact that, for me, Smash Ultimate was not a good game, it focused too much in competitive and regular smash battles, and im fearful that Air Riders might have the same problem, specially because the original Air Ride biggest problem was the lack of single player content, so it would be ridiculously to repeat the same problem, but worse...

Despite that, im neutral to the game until we see more, and i would happily get rid of modern representation if that meant having a substantial single player and multiplayer experience. Or... just being better than the original, im not asking much...

The only thing I ask for is to have Adeleine (Ado) playable. Please 🙏

Are you German

Ich hab den Deutschen direkt bei dir rausgehört

In all fairness the title Air RIDERS directly implies more playable characters

This is a Kirby Air Ride game, it doesn't need to have anything from the modern games, just like how the first Kirby Air Ride was it's own type of game

How sakurai feels after making a logo just a bland black logo like 100,000 other game logos: 😎 😎😎🗿🗿🗿🗿

Why shouldnt a racer spinoff have story connection to the main series? Various anime & videogames do exactly that & it's treated as normal

I hope this game has lore and that the plot involves every Kumazaki era Kirby character getting canonically killed off so nobody will ever ask Sakurai to use modern characters ever again

Okay so For those who are demanding modern Kirby characters in air riders, remember how the original was structured. It feels like the sub hasn't really played the original Kirby air ride considering the demands for modern Kirby character in the sequel. I'm fine with them adding maybe bandanna dee on wheelie scooter and Morpho knight as a variant on meta knight. But it feels like people just want Mario kart but with Kirby characters. Yeah dedede and meta knight are playable in air ride but they had different stats and were treated as machines. Heck the iconic city trial mode had you wandering a city to find a machine to upgrade. If they added more Kirby characters I feel like it would take away from the real stars; the machines. I wouldn't mind if the characters made cameos, I just feel the emphasis should be on the machines and not the characters.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Sakurai titles more because they were less dramatic, I guess? Went from nightmares appearing at the end of the game to Modern Kirby, filled with dark and tragic undertones beneath the simple and lighthearted surface. Makes me look at the franchise differently. I still like the new games, but I'm not opposed to going back to the old style for a game.

The thing i'm scared of is more so Nintendo's current way of doing games that are spin-offs, or "lower" first parties. What i mean, is the infamous "finish it later" approach where the game will release with meager content and then adding a couple of things over the years but not enough to make the game interesting. Especially with how Star Allies turned out (which by the way, it's character roster would be perfect for a racing game, but i doubt it'll be that good)

i’m sorry but if i directed some kirby games and smash i would also have a bias for my own work 😭😭😭

This is like saying "I am convinced that Obama HATES South Carolina because never in his 8 years as President did he specifically visit and give a speech about it"

It certainly feels like there's a bias against Zelda in Smash! The way that's been handled over the years is downright criminal.

Plenty of representation in assist trophies and stages of course, but geez the playable characters are so lacking that it's ridiculous. We can get a Pirahnna Plant but we can't get even like one of the BotW champions or something?

Off topic of course, but it needs to be said/reiterated

I'd be happy if Nintendo gave Knuckle Joe a chance in Smash Bros.

Kirby Superstar has more in common with Super Smash Bros than "modern kirby"

To be honest, I see the representation worries as something completely different from the game being good or not. I trust Sakurai to do an amazing game, but I'm also expecting him to prioritize his past works since I have been disappointed myself with the Smash stage/music choices. I don't think it's as much as a bias or dislike for modern/non-Sakurai games, but more that he might be more comfortable using those aspects of the franchise, that he feels more in synch with them. He passed the torch to others, so it must feel off to use those characters and locations.

What I'm more curious about this game, is if it'll have a cool story mode, or new modes in general. I want a lot of things to do as single player & co-op, not just play races in versus. I loved all the cutscenes in Brawl and the announcement reveals in Smash so it'd be cool to have scenes too, since I don't think there's as much worry about leaks as with smash.

Click bait. Dont bother

Kirby is his baby, it's perfectly fine or even respectable for him to be biased. Air Ride is probably the best Kirby game, Air Riders will be another Sakurai masterpiece.

i think sakurai is bit overated :3

I'd say let Sakurai cook.

He's proven himself to be an excellent visionary with Kid Icarus Uprising and he hasn't allowed himself to express his style of experimental videogames since.

I just want bandana waddle dee in the game man

just compare the SNES super star kirby with all other games. great great difference in terms of quality and overall aesthetic.

This is the first I've heard about these concerns for Air Riders. I'm mainly hoping City Trial gets a lot more fleshed out and the controls don't only use one button for everything. Representation for other Kirby games would be a bonus, but it's not a make or break for me. It'd be amazing to see City Trial levels based on Forgotten Land and Planet Robobot, but I'm not really expecting to see it. Even for its time the original Air Ride marched to the beat of its own drum and mainly focused on original stuff not seen in past games (or ever since).

I feel like there’s been more of a divide between the eras lately, and that’s just a shame.

I hear you're from Germany 🙂‍↕️😂

Bandana Dee is an important pillar of the series. He's part of the core 4 and usually the only one to remain an ally when the D³ and MK are playing their antagonist roles.

It's kinda funny that my experience with kirby end exactly in the N64. I basically know nothing about modern kirby.
Nothing personal with the franchise, i just have little to no access to nintendo consoles after the N64.

Hate? Bad here I'm exited to see him back, imagining the new city trial with download play <3

Honestly, I kinda get where the concern is coming from. As a Pikmin fan (And as someone who loves lore and the story portion of video games as a whole,) seeing how Pikmin 4 retconned and changed so many things for seemingly no reason was very disheartening, and put a genuine dent in how much I enjoyed the game overall. People just don't want the same to happen to Kirby.

i think the fact the game is titled "air riders" implies there'll probably be more of a focus on more playable characters and i cant imagine they wouldnt include more modern characters because like. if not then what options for other characters do they even have

People are concerned about the guy who directed the literal best game in a franchise whose original creator is dead... resenting people working on his franchise other than himself?

I'll wait until we find out if he shoehorned tripping into the game or not.

listen. i feel like its obvious at this point that sakurai is a man of his people. our boy aims to please. i know DAMN well sakurai is doing his kirby catch-up and planning on putting in all that kirby fanservice the fans are wanting. just look at smash, almost all his actions feel like that of a developer who is well aware of his fans and what they want, while also adhering to his own artistic integrity. when he adds dlc characters to smash he does his research on the games and seemingly fan culture / reception as well based on all the taunt animations, colour variations, moveset, etc. the man only wants whats best for us. Kirby Air Riders WILL be peak. trust.

based banjo tooie music btw

People hating Sakurai is new to me?

Being worried about sakurai working on kirby is a crazy overreaction, I don’t get how people can be anything but happy

People hating Sakurai is new to me?

I’m pretty excited for Sakurai’s return. I think I genuinely prefer something like Super Star or Air Ride to Return to Dreamland or even older games like Dream Land 3!

Saying Sakurai has a bias towards his own Kirby games in Smash is kind of silly, because when you take more than one minute to look at the content he really favors... it's all from Superstar. It's the core entry of the series, like Ocarina of Time is to Zelda, and the entire "modern" Kirby series is also built on the foundation laid out by that game.

Nintendo was probably the main driving force pushing for other characters to get updated to reference newer games. Samus getting the Zero Suit mode in Brawl, Zelda and Star Fox crowd changing designs each game, Mario getting Odyssey elements included, these were probably influenced by marketing more than anything. But since Sakurai is THE Kirby guy, nobody came knocking at his door to request these kinds of changes.

(And honestly? Apart from getting a stage representing newer games or a Bandana Dee assist trophy I don't know what more you could realistically get.)

Quite peculiar that a lot of people read "bias" as "must hate other thing". Very telling, to be honest.
It's not particularly impossible that Sakurai, as the creator of Kirby, who saw his baby from Adventure evolve and evolve and eventually saw it settle into someone else's hands, could have complicated feelings on the matter TEMPERED by professional attitude. Nor is it impossible that he might harbor some internal beliefs that "modern" Kirby has strayed too far from its' initial concept, or other things like that. At the end of the day it's all completely stuff we can only use what is basically anecdotal evidence to consider.
I think he does have a bias, but not HATRED. I think I'm going to love Air Riders regardless, but if it turns out more classic-oriented than I thought, my only real thought's gonna be "That's a shame." and I'll go play the new City Trial that's definitely gonna be there.

Modern kirby is boring so I am super excited about this game lol

more playable characters could just mean giving every playable character the copy abilities lmao.

You used to see a similar concern with Kingdom Hearts and Nomura only bringing in characters that he specifically designed. I think it's about not wanting to tarnish or meddle with the products of someone's vision, instead of seeing them as the Company's toolbox that you can pick and choose as you see fit.